Tales of the Abyss Ep. 18 + 19

Another double dose of Tales of the Abyss! It’s transition time as we phase from Part II to Part III of the game, complete with new developments!

In other news, I’ll have more of Jigoku Shoujo soon. I have to translate Episode 15 anyway, so I might as well write an entry for it while I’m at it, no?

I do have this to say though – this season has again been rather underwhelming, and I’m watching shows from the previous season (ToraDORAMA, To Aru Majutsu no Index, Tales of the Abyss, Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae). With that said, next season looks pretty good. Shangri-La, yay~! Or, for more mind-numbing madness, Hayate S2! O_o;;

Absorption Gate

With the Albiore grounded, the group rests in Keterburg, where Luke apologizes to Natalia for not remembering “their” promise, but repeats the words that Asch once said to her. Natalia promises to never doubt him again, since, replica or not, he is her childhood friend. Luke then pauses in front of Tear’s room before going back to bunk with Guy, who is slightly surprised that Luke did not talk to Tear at all before going to bed. When morning comes, Luke is rudely awakened by Asch, but asks his real self to join the group. Asch refuses but makes Luke promise to kill Van. With everybody else awake, the group makes for the Absorption Gate, where an earthquake quickly separates Tear and Luke from the others. With only their weapons, they confront an organ-playing Van, who is somewhat surprised at the replica Luke arriving instead of Asch. Luke asks Van why he was created, and learns that Van had planned for him to be a wrench in the Score’s prophecies, but that plan had failed miserably. With Van refusing to listen, Luke and Tear engage Van in battle, but Luke is disarmed after hesitating to deliver the final blow.

With Van ready to kill Luke, Jade and the remainder of the group arrive and distract Van long enough for Luke to slash him across his chest. Bemused by his defeat at the hands of a ‘failure’, Van staggers back and falls to his death(?); Luke, with considerable effort and support from Asch, manages to reverse the flow of fonons through the gate, and the world is safe once more.

Fast forward one month, and Luke is extremely bored at the fon Fabre mansion, with only Mieu in tow. Although he doesn’t want to go anywhere, his mother, who has accepted the fact that he is a replica, encourages him to go out and see his friends. As Luke walks out, he is surprised to see Noelle, who pilots the Albiore to Yulia City and explains how Asch has been doing some researching using the Albiore III. In the city, Luke is reunited with Tear as she prays in front of her brother’s gravestone. Tear informs Luke that Van’s sword has gone missing, and the two make their way to Daath to talk to Ion.

The Final Score

Anise is busy conning some nobles out of money when Tear and Luke ask for an audience with Ion. When they arrive, they find that Guy and Jade have already arrived with some bad news. In addition to Van’s sword going missing, the Planet Storm activity has been increasing, suggesting that someone is going on with Van’s plans. Making matters worse, Dist has escaped, and a ragtag, hollow-eyed force flying Kimlasca colors has obliterated an entire Malkuth army. The group decides to depart for Kimlasca and see if King Ingobert can answer, but they are intercepted by Natalia, who complains of a Malkuth detachment attacking Kimlasca forces. As Luke surmises that someone is playing both sides for the fool, Tear collapses from the buildup of miasma within her body. Ion suggests that there is a way to remove the impurities from her, but before he can do anything, Anise arrives and takes Ion away, citing an emergency. Luke and the others quickly find out – from Arietta, of all people! – that Anise is planning to take Ion to read the Seventh Fonstone, which would kill him.

As they catch up with Ion, they find out that Anise has been Mohs’ spy all along because of her parents being held captive. Anise leaves her doll behind, and Arietta manages to follow Mohs’ group through the passageway. Luke and the others are stayed by a group of replicas – all of whom they can recognize, including Guy’s deceased sister – but are saved by Tear’s fonic hymns. Using a note that Anise left behind on her doll, Luke and the others go to the Sephiroth at Mount Zeloh, where Ion is reading the Score. As they dispatch of the Oracle Knights, Ion finishes reading the fonstone before it shatters, and Mohs makes his escape. Ion tells Luke that he read the remains of the Score for Luke’s benefit, as a way to guide him through the rest of his journey. Ion heals Tear of her disease by taking in all of the impure fonons out from her body before disintegrating away. Although her parents are free, Anise is still heartbroken over her actions leading to Ion’s death. Outside, Arietta looks back and realizes that she will never see Ion again..

Impressions:

I still think that throwing yourself off of the most convenient ledge / cliff / whatever is an incredibly stupid way to die.

You’d think that with Van making all that racket on the organ, Tear and Luke could’ve tried to NINJA their way to him and strike without him ever noticing. But I guess that goes against an understood code of honor or something? Or it just doesn’t make the story as ‘grand’ as it is.

It’s a similar gripe to what I had for the game, but Luke has gone from complete asshole to being altruistic to a fault. It’s such a jarring character change that really didn’t get handled well in either medium. Then again, I’ll take the current Luke over Luke fon Asshat anyday. OH WAIT – You killed your teacher, you saved the world, and all you want to do now is sleep at home all day?! WTF?!

Noelle should start charging!

Episode 19 is nothing short of painfully obvious, but I still love Anise.

Anybody else get a chill after the replica army shows up? I mean, that’s kind of creepy, considering where we’re headed with cloning technologies in reality. Pretty soon we could have Stormtroopers! Seriously! And I mean that in the most serious, non-nerd tone possible.

See, at least Ion gets the awesome death scene, a la GARcher. Damn the villains and their love for falling off of cliffs!